Brett Gabriel Simon PORTFOLIO
Objective Brett intends to bring his background in wood furniture making and his keen attention to detail to the practice of architecture. He believes that his habit of sketching, deep interest in history, love for the environment, study of foreign languages, and continued practice of public speaking, will enrich his contribution to the profession. B S brettgabrielsimon.com G
K.B. Neighborhood Park Village of Key Biscayne Design | Project Management | Labor 401 Hampton Lane Key Biscayne, FL 33149 Spring 2016-Autumn 2018 The Village of Key Biscayne’s first neighborhood park is on a corner lot in a residential neighborhood. A group of volunteers, which included me as the designer, coordinated, and with volunteer and hired labor, executed, the project.
The park in its entirety, above. The group of volunteers asked the following questions to ground the project: How do we transform a vacant residential lot into a park that connects and caters to neighbors—adults and kids—with different interests and demands? How do we create the illusion that a small plot of land is larger than it really is? How do we grow awareness of the South Florida environment? We decided to center the design around 5 major elements: A garden to soothe, stimulate and connect people; an open green space for unstructured play; a sheltered space for neighbors to gather; and a bocce court for neighbors to connect over a casual game. The final element comprises the native and tropical plants and local and regional materials that tell a story about South Florida. The park is meant to be as much a place of respite, as it is to be a place of education.
The completed pergola, top, and above, Timber Artisans, with me assisting, erecting the pergola; at left, people enjoying the pergola. B S brettgabrielsimon.com G
K.B. Neighborhood Park Village of Key Biscayne
At top, the plan of the park; far right, the pergola seen from the path; and right, a detail of the fixed stainless steel and teak bench.
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Sketchbook Fall 2018 Window nook at the Palace of the Popes, Avignon. B S brettgabrielsimon.com G
Speed of Light Fabrication Design | Project Management | Labor McKenzie Craft, LLC 2247 NW 17th Ave. Miami, FL 33142 October-December 2016 Commissioned by the owners of Miami Design District for Art Basel Miami and Miami Design Week, and designed by Johan Llewellyn King and Philippe Malouin, the project did not receive approval until one month before its scheduled exhibition. November 2016 was a busy month that required rapid and adaptive planning, collaboration, diligent execution and tenacity. Philippe conceived Speed of Light as a whimsical transformation of the traditional lamppost into a roller coaster. Johan designed the technical aspects of the project. McKenzie Craft constructed much of the project off-site, in its parking lot. To complete the project, the assembled components were then transported to the site for final assembly.
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Speed of Light Fabrication Design | Project Management | Labor McKenzie Craft, LLC 2247 NW 17th Ave. Miami, FL 33142 October-December 2016 Due to the brief schedule of this project, it had to be fast tracked. While the drawings below had already been sent to Chicago Metal Rolled Products to roll the steel tube for the ‘roller coaster’ track of the art installation, the designs of the pedestals, bottom, were still being developed in collaboration with the structural engineers YHCE in Miami.
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7934 West Drive Lobby Design | Fabrication Design | Project Management McKenzie Craft, LLC 2247 NW 17th Ave. Miami, FL 33142 July 2016-February 2017 Commissioned by a condominium association for their unadorned lobby, these sculptural benches, built of baltic birch plywood, give the lobby a dose of warmth and dynamism that had been lacking. The design is based on a sketch I made for the clients. My colleague Kris Henning, skilled in Blender software, transformed the sketch into 3d sculptural forms. Transferring those blendergenerated forms to 123d Make, we were able to ‘slice’ the form to generate the
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Miscellaneous Projects Design | Fabrication Design | Digital Fabrication McKenzie Craft, LLC 2247 NW 17th Ave. Miami, FL 33142 March 2017-September 2018 The work on this page provides a sample of projects done while I was the company’s Digital Fabrication Engineer.
The company asked me to design a lounge chair to be given as a gift to the former COO of the company, Benji. It also wanted a chair that was simple and easy to produce repeatedly. At left is the prototype of the Benji Chair, sitting in the production office.
The company needed to furnish its booth at the ‘Maker Faire.’ The television and literature stand in the background, was designed by Owen Berry. I designed the table and chair in the foreground. The pieces are assembled without glue or screws.
The drawing at left represents my method of working through and communicating ideas. As a member of the production team, I had to communicate frequently with the production manager and the laborers in the shop. This particular drawing shows the construction of a counter in the food court at Miami Central Station.
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Sketchbook Fall 2018 A beech tree in Parc Monceau, Paris.
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Interdisciplinary Space on the University of Copenhagen Forestry School Campus The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture January-May 2015 This project proposes additional classrooms, dormitory buildings, and a new outdoor space plan for the existing campus of the Forestry School located in northern Zealand. The purpose of the new structures and refined outdoor spaces is to provide space to house an inter-disciplinary program for students who attend school at the urban campus of Copenhagen University. The new buildings and outdoor spaces create more open connections between indoor and outdoor space. The interdisciplinary educational program is intended to connect students of the academic programs of the university to the forest. All final drawings were done by hand on heavy trace paper, using graphite and color pencil. In clockwise order from right, are the site model, the site plan, and site section.
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Interdisciplinary Space on the University of Copenhagen Forestry School Campus The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture January-May 2015 In clockwise order, from above, are the dormitory design drawings, the model of the classroom building, the classroom building and outdoor space design drawings, and the site section.
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From a Gilded Horn to a Golden Horn The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture September 2013-June 2014 This project examines Istanbul’s relationship to the waterfront, with particular focus on the Galata Bridge that spans the Golden Horn. During the studio’s visit to Istanbul I studied the fish market and restaurants beside and in the bridge. The model proposes a transformation of the bridge. The model is made of pine, steel, and MDF.
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Sketchbook Summer 2014 A water wheel in Manarola, Italy.
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El Burro: Pack Bureau Design | Furniture Making - November 2012-March 2013 - Center for Furniture Craftsmanship British campaign furniture inspired this desk. For the writer on a campaign or for the mundane travails of life like paying taxes, this bureau provides an ordered space for work. The standard paper dimensions A4 and letter determined the dimensions of the case, while a ratio of radical-2, whose logic also governs the dimensions of the ‘A’ paper format, guides the overall proportions. The legs are demountable. Ash | Aluminum | Steel | Soap
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Figure Drawing Various dates, 10 minute sketches.
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Rethinking De-industrialized Landscapes Sheet Metal Workers’ Union Hall Chouteau Industrial Corridor Master Plan WUStL, Spring 2010 Professor Valerie Greer This studio ran concurrently with the start of an actual project that serves the St. Louis Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 36. The union transformed a former factory into their union hall and training facility. Although optional in the studio, the actual plans for the union hall reuse the existing structure. I chose to adhere to that strategy in a broad sense. This project retains the existing structure as an armature in which to set the new architecture, which called for workshops, classrooms, recreation space, administrative space, and an auditorium.
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Rethinking De-industrialized Landscapes Sheet Metal Workers’ Union Hall Chouteau Industrial Corridor Master Plan WUStL, Spring 2010 Professor Valerie Greer The master plan connects the Chouteau commercial and industrial corridor with reviving residential and commercial areas to the south and north. It counters the consolidation of property by reinstating many historic property lines, with the goal of diversifying use. Some lots contain literal foundations on which entrepreneurs can install pop-up shops, other lots are available to developers, and still others are designated as parks.
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Carter Carburetor Corporation - Studies of an Urban Industrial Site WUStL, Fall 2010 Advisor Bob Hansman To explore St. Louis, my friend Miriam Keller and I created an independent study. Through drawing and writing we hoped to develop our understanding of place, people, and history. We ultimately decided to study, through a series of drawings, the Carter Carburetor Corporation site on North Grand and St. Louis Avenues. Each piece followed one of these guiding characteristics: observational, analytical, polemical, and textual. Displacement arose as a central theme that describes the history of the site and the process of drawing. The four resultant pieces study industrialization’s disruption by embodying it. Each piece retains and obscures its history in successive layers. The later layers inevitably displace, yet they also accentuate and frame elements of previous layers. In contrast to the impoverishment created by the displacement off the canvas, each successive layer enriches the previous and thereby itself. 36” x 36” Pencil, color pencil, technical pen, spray paint on paper; this is the analytical piece. B S G brettgabrielsimon.comm
Education Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture September 2013-June 2015 Degree: Master of Arts in Architecture (MAA) By completing the Education Evaluation Services for Architects (EESA) the degree meets the NCARB education standard. Center for Furniture Craftsmanship June 2012-June 2013 Learned wood furniture making, design, and hand and machine tool use and maintenance Washington University in St. Louis August 2007-May 2011 Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Architecture + Second Major in Spanish (Cum Laude)
Work Experience McKenzie Craft - Digital Fabrication Engineer | Project Manager | Fabrication Designer Miami, FL October 2015-September 2018 Digital Fabrication Engineer: I created milling programs for and managed the operation of the CNC mill. Project Manager of millwork for single-family homes, condominium lobbies, religious, retail and restaurant spaces, and an art installation. Responsibilities included estimating & fabrication design. Fabrication Designer of millwork, furniture and specialty projects built with wood, metal, concrete, and other materials. Key Biscayne Neighborhood Park - Designer Key Biscayne, FL Spring 2016-Fall 2018 Volunteer collaboration: proposing, designing, and building the Village of Key Biscayne’s first and only neighborhood park Dandelion Spring Farm - Apprentice Farmer Newcastle, ME June-August 2013 St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department - Writer + Editor Clayton, MO Fall 2011-Spring 2012 Volunteering under Esley Hamilton, Preservation Historian: revising and writing historic house descriptions for the Claverach Park subdivision nomination to National Register of Historic Places Patterhn Ives - Modelmaker St. Louis, MO October 2011 Atlanta History Center Design Competition: modelmaking in a two person team WUSTL School of Architecture - Wood Fabrication Shop Monitor St. Louis, MO Spring 2009-Summer 2011
Community Engagement Group Drawing Lessons - Village of Key Biscayne Parks & Recreation + Private - Drawing Teacher Key Biscayne, FL Spring 2019 | Copenhagen, Denmark Spring-Fall 2014 Toastmasters International - Member December 2014-present Wynwood Inspire.Us Toastmasters Club - Member | Club Officer - Sergeant at Arms 2016-18 | Treasurer 2017-present TREEmendous Miami - Member Fall 2015-present | Board Member Fall 2017-Fall 2018 The organization plants native and tropical vegetation to restore South Florida habitats and beautify Miami Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Endangered species monitoring + seed collecting Fall 2015-present Volunteer with biologists in endangered habitats in Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Broward counties
Architecture Experience Program (AXP) 2541 of required 3740 hours
Awards | Honors | Exhibitions International Contemporary Furniture Fair - Exhibitor Ft. Lauderdale, FL October 2017 Our House - Exhibitor Design and retail showcase hosted by Brillhart Architecture at the Brillhart home Miami, FL May 2016 Village of Key Biscayne Village Engagement Academy February 2017 Fine Woodworking Magazine November/December 2013, issue No. 236, publication of work in ‘Reader’s Gallery’ St. Louis Artists’ Guild - Exhibitor ‘Sustainability and the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region’ Fall 2011 Hugh Ferriss Book Award for Architectural Drawing - Recipient Spring 2011 Excellence in Craft Award - Model Scale - Nominee Spring 2011 Excellence in Craft Award - Full Scale - Nominee Spring 2011 Sigma Delta Pi, National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society - Inductee Spring 2011
Skills | Languages Fabrication - Woodworking, model making, hand + machine tool use + maintenance; CNC milling software: Microvellum, EnRoute Design + Visualization - Revit, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, VRay, drawing, sketching, painting; Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, + InDesign Writing + Estimating + Other - Microsoft Word, Excel; Google Docs, Sheets; Bluebeam Revu Languages - English, Spanish, Danish, French
Hobbies Ultimate frisbee, tennis, sailing, reading, gardening B S brettgabrielsimon.com G